Tin lamps, inexpensively stamped out in large numbers, were distributed to children by Hebrew schools and Jewish organizations throughout the twentieth century. Many have the same patent date found on this lamp, or a patent number. This patent was taken out by Tobias Cohn of New York City in 1909. Cohn invented not the entire lamp, but a combination oil container with candleholder that could be stamped out of a single piece of metal. The oil receptacle had crimped edges, and the candleholder was placed at the rear edge. The patent application makes no mention of the use of this device on a Hanukkah lamp. Cohn stated only that "the object of my invention is to provide in an economical yet strong and durable manner a device, in which both oil and candles may be burned, or either one to the exclusion of the other" (United States Patent Office, no. 930, 592).

Cohn's combination lighting device apparently did not survive for very long, since all but one of the fifteen lamps of this type in the collection have just candleholders. It would appear that after a transitional period when both oil and candles were used for Hanukkah, American Jews preferred the more convenient candles. In spite of this fact, Cohn's patent continued to be acknowledged on the lamps.